The most important fact to know about my story: I am deaf, so my interviews are different from other stories, and in a disturbing way. I remember two experiences that stuck in my memory until now. First one was when I was a kid in a hearing ward, and they were having a youth baptismal…
I knew I was gay as early as I was 8. All I knew is that what I felt was wrong and evil. That was constantly reiterated at church for the next decade of my life. The amount of self loathing and shaming was crippling at times. No one knew. When I was 11, I…
I was baptized at 8, like all the other kids who were raised in the church did. When I was 9 I was raped by my brother over the span of almost a year. My parent’s had caught him in the act and instead of involving law enforcement they just sat us down and told…
I am not sure if this qualifies ,but… I was 16 when my bishop asked me in an interview whether or not I masturbated. In fact I had stopped for nearly 6 months. I had not even thought about it for as long. As a result of his questioning, I began again and never stopped.…
I tend to be verbose, so excuse me if this is long. I was first asked if I masturbated when I was 14, I believe. At the time I’d only heard of it in regards to boys and thought it was only sinful because of “seed being spilled.” (I had that impression because of the…
I had just turned 12 years old. My sister was the Laurel President and absolutely loved the Young Women’s program in our LDS faith. I was so excited to share this with my sister. Just like other youth my age, it was time for me to be interviewed by my Bishop. He was a young…
I am one of the many men who was repeatedly sexually shamed in interviews. This line of specific and graphic sexual questioning took place since I was 12 years old and lasted until after my mission. I was grilled about it explicitly by bishops, stake presidents, mission presidents, and young men’s leaders. Even now as…
For my baptismal interview, I was asked if I kept the law of chastity with myself. I was confused, nervous, embarrassed. I slowly nodded. He said he had hoped I was too young to even know what masturbation was, but that “you never know.” I had been a victim of molestation as an even younger…
I had been molested by one of my brothers friends for several years between 11 & 14. This boy would sneak into my bedroom at night when he thought I was asleep. We finally moved and I felt it was something I needed to talk to someone about it but didn’t feel comfortable talking to…
I started having a sexual relationship with my first serious boyfriend at the age of 16. He was also a member of the church. We decided as a couple that we wanted to repent so that we could be worthy for temple marriage. I made an appointment with my bishop to start the repentance process.…